Analysis Of The Odyssey By Norcott-Mahany

The Odyssey, by Homer, just a simple search in Google will bring up millions of hits, a similar search on any college’s database will bring up thousands of articles, essays, and reviews of the famous Greek Epic. Pretty good for a tale now well over a thousand years old. However, with such a lengthy history to the story’s name and a huge drawing-factor to anyone stepping into the fields of History or Literature, it seems most everyone has written down their opinions about the text. Sadly, this means that over time writing about it has become clichéd. So, how does one blow off the dust from a thousand year old writing to reveal something more? Looking at it from a new angle; Bernard Norcott-Mahany’s article posted on January 12, 2012, titled

This, as he points out is how the story is more a poem, as it plays out with the hero meaning something more than just a heroic character. This point is of course used to support the argument that the story is more of a poem; although, one can argue that a story can very well take place without a hero being in the starting portion of a book. Norcott-Mahany does bring up the idea that it is not Odysseus that the story truly means to convey the message to. Instead, readers should focus more on the words and moral of the story rather than the story itself. I agree with this idea, as the overall message of how important family is definitely stands out more than any monsters slain. This of course is with any Greek tale as most convey moral messages or ways to live, yet, Odysseus is different than other

Odysseus is, as said previously, very different than other Greek heroes, he is not a demigod, nor does he receive divine intervention through his life. Instead, Odysseus is just a normal man attempting to get home to his family, yet he losses god’s father (Poseidon) and is such put through trials before he can see his family again. As Norcott-Mahany states, “When we reflect on our experience, we compose that experience in narrative form...” which is what the story turns to when Odysseus is talking or when Homer himself provides narration. The changes in the story are abundant even as the story switches to Odysseus’ son when he attempts to keep the suitors from marrying his mother. This is the magic that is talked about, as Homer switches between the characters and ways of telling a story to ultimately convey different messages, all the while keeping it in a poetic styling as Norcott-Mahany